Varsity field hockey met Sacred Heart on a lovely afternoon on South Fields; with the field surrounded by spectators, both teams were geared up for a win.

Coach Duncan explained that the team had been working on a new game: “making our forwards cut back to the ball more, better communication, and positivity,” and hopes were high that the change would pay off.

The game had a slow start; the opening goal went to Sacred Heart at 7 minutes 5 seconds into the match, giving them a 1-0 lead. Meara Burns ’19 then scored for Kent, with 1 minute 23 seconds left in the first half.

In the second half, there were many good plays, but no goals until the last few minutes. Kent picked it up in the last ten minutes, after a lull during the majority of the match. But with Sacred Heart holding a 7-4 advantage on Kent in penalty corners, the girls couldn’t keep up. The end score was 2-1, in favor of Sacred Heart.

When asked about the loss, Coach Duncan explains: “Something that was detrimental to us was that one of our top forwards got some cards and she had to sit out, so we had to play man-down for quite a bit of the game. That was a difficult challenge to overcome.” She also mentions the three captains and the goalie as the most valuable players of the game: Ashley McDonald ’18 and Kelly Dolan ’18 both senior midfielders, Tina Paolillo ’18 a senior forward, and Maaike Vink ‘19 with six saves.

Despite their close loss, the girls are still determined to win the Founder’s League as they gear up for their next game against Westminster.